In celebration of the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, Murray State's Cinema International presents Mr. Pig this week. Austin Carter speaks to program director Dr. Thérèse St. Paul and associate professor of Spanish Dr. Ben Post ahead of the screenings.
From the MSU Cinema International website:
"A charming, seriocomic journey following Ambrose Eubanks who, on the brink of losing his family pig farm, sets off on a road trip from California to Mexico to find a new home for 'Howie,' his beloved large pig. Director Diego Luna tackles the issues of global markets, factory farming, responsibility, and broken relationships. Stubborn in his old ways, Ambrose attempts to make peace with his past. The story follows the gorgeously winding roads from southern California to west-central Mexico, guided by a soundtrack evoking the South and old rock n' roll."
"It is a serious film that has comic moments," Post says. "[Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph] are working at the height of their game; they're doing a very good job with this material and showing us a different facet of a border story. I think it's significant that Diego Luna, as a Mexican man, is choosing to explore another angle of US-Mexico border relations through these characters."
"Danny Glover's playing a farmer in the US in California who has very long-running commercial agricultural connections with places in Mexico. He's not going in blind as an 'ugly American.' He's going in as someone who knows and loves this place, who has contacts there, but who is also saddened by some of the changes in Mexico. Not so much about changes related to violence or the narcotics trade or gangs, but rather, the changes in Mexico's farming system, which runs parallel to the changes in the US—the increase in factory farms, things like that. It's a more traditional Wendell Berry-type farmer face-to-face with the agricultural machine."
"This film does well in reminding us that the border is not just one thing," Post continues. "Consumption of certain types of news about the border leads one to assume a certain type of thing. There's lots of trade going back and forth in different directions—industrial integration and agricultural integration on both sides of the border."
In addition to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a Spanish/English language film, St. Paul says that Mr. Pig aligns with the program's overarching theme of searching. "Whether it is your identity or another life—it fit into some of the themes we were falling into."
MSU Cinema International presents Mr. Pig on Thursday, September 15th, in the Barkley Room and Saturday, September 17th, in the Curris Center Theater. Both screenings are at 7:30 pm and on the third floor of the Curris Center. Screenings are free and open to the public.
For more information on the Cinema International program, including how to donate and upcoming screenings, visit its website.
